


Deeper Meaning

by ThisIsLitaE



Category: Law & Order: SVU
Genre: Barisi - Freeform, Christmas Fluff, Christmas Presents, Cute, Established Relationship, First Christmas, Gift Exchange, Kewpie Doll, M/M, Sweet, True Love
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-12-17
Updated: 2020-12-17
Packaged: 2021-03-10 17:49:00
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,261
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28121166
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ThisIsLitaE/pseuds/ThisIsLitaE
Summary: Rafael and Dominick's Christmas gift exchange includes some peculiar items. But the deeper meaning behind the presents shows how much they love each other.
Relationships: Rafael Barba/Dominick "Sonny" Carisi Jr.
Comments: 6
Kudos: 25





	Deeper Meaning

Christmas Day had arrived and, for the first time in years, Rafael Barba woke up excited for the occasion. It was his first Christmas with Dominick Carisi as his boyfriend. He had been determined to make it a special holiday for both of them. He’d even agreed to go to the Christmas mass and carol sing along, just to see the smile on Dominick’s face.

As he stepped into Dominick’s living room, it was clear to Rafael that his boyfriend was pulling out all the stops, too. A small, tastefully decorated Christmas tree sat by Dominick’s television, with a neatly wrapped gift beneath it. Across the coffee table was a lovely breakfast spread of sliced fruit, bagels and, most importantly, coffee.

“How long have you been awake doing all this?” Rafael asked, tying up his robe.

Dominick switched on the Christmas tree lights and turned to Rafael. “I thought I’d let you sleep. I wanted to surprise you.”

Rafael took a seat on the couch, pouring himself a generous mug of coffee. “It’s really amazing, Dominick.”

“Well, you’re really amazing, Rafael.” Dominick replied, slipping onto the couch beside his boyfriend. He pressed a kiss to Rafael’s lips. “So, do you want presents first or do you want to dig into this spread?”

Rafael picked up an apple slice and popped it into his mouth. “Who says we can’t multitask?”

Dominick nodded in agreement and took the present from under the tree. He handed it to Rafael with a nervous grin. “I hope you like it.”

Rafael put the gift on his lap, taking a moment to study it. He could tell by the shape that there was a bottle of wine inside. A smile came to his face as he began to unwrap the paper. He’d always had a preference for either practical or consumable gifts.

As the present was revealed, Rafael couldn’t believe his eyes. He picked up the bottle of wine and read the label. It was from a winery in the Hudson Valley that he and Dominick had visited. The memory from months before came back to Rafael. He and Dominick had been drinking that very wine when they’d first said “I love you” to each other.

“Remember that winery with the gorgeous views,” Dominick said, wrapping his arm around Rafael.

“Of course, I could never forget it.” Rafael took a breath as the emotions welled up inside of him. “Don’t tell me you drove two and a half hours to get this?”

Dominick chuckled and shook his head. “I found a place that sells it in the city. But I would have gone back there if I had to. I’d do anything for you.”

Rafael surrendered into a sweet kiss with Dominick before looking at the rest of his gift. There was a box of chocolate covered almonds, his favourite guilty snacking pleasure. On top of the candy sat something rather peculiar. A small green kewpie doll stared at Rafael. He picked it up and turned to Dominick in confusion.

“Is this some kind of Carisi family tradition?”

“You don’t remember?” Dominick took Rafael’s hands, thumbing the kewpie doll on the head. “The Byron Marks case. I dug into all this international Cuban law trying to impress you. You told me to get myself a kewpie doll before revealing all my efforts had been pointless.”

Rafael sniffed out a laugh, squeezing Dominick’s hands. It surprised him that his boyfriend had remembered such a thing. He began to feel guilty about not recalling that particular snarky quip.

“Anyway, that moment made me realise that the world may hate lawyers but, boy, did I love you,” Dominick confessed.

Rafael wrapped his arms around Dominick and snuggled in close. He squeezed the kewpie doll in his fist, vowing to treasure the silly knickknack forever. The thoughtfulness behind Dominick’s present was making him doubt that his own was any good. As far as Rafael was concerned, the man he loved deserved the whole world.

“You know I love holding you, but I have to ask, are you okay?” Dominick tilted Rafael’s chin up, so their eyes met.

Rafael nodded in reply and brushed his lips against Dominick’s. “Just so you know, I don’t think my gift can compete with this.”

“As long as I have you for Christmas, I consider myself pretty lucky,” Dominick told him, honestly. “But I wouldn’t say no to some Knicks tickets.”

Rafael rolled his eyes and stood up from the couch. He walked over to his briefcase by the door. In order to prevent the detective finding his present, he’d managed to disguise it among work files. Rafael pulled out the thick, bound pages and took a deep breath. He hoped that Dominick liked what he had done.

Dominick raised an eyebrow when Rafael returned to the couch. “You got me a brief for Christmas?”

“See for yourself,” Rafael replied as he placed the book in Dominick’s lap.

It had taken Rafael hours to type up. Every dish from Mrs Carisi’s special recipe books was in there, ready for Dominick to make magic in the kitchen. Post its marked the pages of Dominick’s favourites, according to his sister. Rafael had even left some room on each page, in case his boyfriend wanted to write notes or make adjustments.

“I know you were annoyed when your sister got your mother’s recipe books because of her more traditional family unit,” Rafael explained, rubbing Dominick’s forearm. “So I paid Bella a visit and she helped me type all these up for you.”

Dominick turned to his boyfriend, eyes watering. The depth of gratitude was clear on his face. “I love it, Rafael. And I love you.”

Before Rafael knew it, Dominick had pinned him to the couch. Their lips met in a passionate kiss. Rafael wrapped his arms around his boyfriend’s waist, enjoying the warmth on top of him. Once their mouths parted, Dominick continued smothering Rafael’s face in kisses.

“If I didn’t know any better, I’d say you were trying to make me cry,” Dominick said, gazing deep into Rafael’s eyes.

“Come on, mi corazón.” Rafael brushed some hairs off Dominick’s forehead. “The gift wasn’t entirely selfless. You know I’m expecting you to cook all of those recipes for me.”

Dominick picked up the kewpie doll which had dropped to the floor. He made it kiss Rafael’s nose. “Why don’t you admit that you’re a big softie?”

“I will admit no such thing,” Rafael replied light-heartedly, snatching the kewpie doll back. “Now let me up before my coffee gets cold.”

“Okay, then.” Dominick held his hands up in surrender, moving back to a sitting position. “We’ll just pretend you’re not going to keep that kewpie doll as a love token, in your briefcase, with a certain Fordham University pen.”

Rafael sat up and leaned against Dominick’s shoulder. He put the kewpie doll on the table and picked up his coffee mug. One thing was still niggling at him about the doll.

“Why did you get a green one?” Rafael asked, taking a sip of his coffee.

Dominick grabbed a bagel, smearing it with cream cheese. With a big grin on his face, he answered, “It matches your eyes.”

Rafael rolled his eyes and took a strawberry from the fruit plate. As he tasted the sweet fruit, he glanced at the man he loved. Dominick bit into his bagel, licking a bit of cream cheese from his lip. Though Rafael wouldn’t admit it aloud, his boyfriend’s previous sentiment had been right. All they needed for Christmas was each other.

**Author's Note:**

> *For those few who may not know, the kewpie doll reference is from a deleted scene.  
> *This was inspired by some kewpie dolls, including green ones, at my workplace.  
> *The recipe book was an idea that was cut from my other fic "Paper Anniversary", so I used it here.  
> *The Fordham Law pen love token is a throwback to my very first Barisi fic "Five Minutes More".
> 
> Hope you enjoyed this bit of Xmas Fluff! Kudos and Comments are always appreciated.


End file.
